Mansionmania Tournament: Round 1, Heat 4

[Rain Man]

Mansionmania continues. I'm going to show you the most expensive homes in every state and a few territories, with a few extras thrown in from the largest states to get the tourney up to 64. It'll be a single-elimination tournament.

You will choose among each pair of houses with the following assumptions:

• The purchase price for you is $0.
• All maintenance, utilities, property taxes, and cleaning is included.
• You must live in the home for the rest of your life.
• You can't travel more than 100 miles from home (via google maps drive time) other than 1 two-week vacation each year.
• You get $250,000 per year as a living allowance
• You get an additional living allowance at the cheaper home, which will be valued at 1% of any cost difference annually. I will note this amount in the poll.
• You get the furnishings. If unfurnished, you get an allowance that will give you mid-grade furniture in every room.
• You get any vehicles in the garage. But only the garage - nothing parked outside.

I encourage you to click on the maps in the listings to see the general location and neighborhood.

Also, I will only enter contestants if they have a sufficient number of photos to judge, as determined by me.

Your entries in this heat are:

Mississippi:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...0_M93834-33929

California:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M95237-01396

Note: the California house is not the most expensive in the state if you audit me. To get the tournament up to a field of 64, I added some extra entries from states with large populations, based on the state's size. So California, Texas, New York, and Florida have more than one entry, and California has five since it's such a behemoth state. California also has a few that are tied at the $100 million price tag, so I picked tiebreakers based on my own subjective tastes.

[Rain Man]

I'll start by saying that the Mississippi property is quite nice. It's got nice features, good acreage, and you can get to New Orleans and the gulf coast within 100 miles. It's nice.

But ... California.

That's the Patrick Mahomes of properties. It's in Ojai, California, which has pretty much a perfect climate. It's got a lot of outdoor acreage that's beautiful and you're within 100 miles of the coast, Malibu, and the north part of Los Angeles so you can go to Hollywood premieres. The house is enormous and high-quality, and while there's a little more wood than I prefer, I still recognize that it's gorgeous. You get your own barbershop! And while I don't know what I'd do with most of them, the furnishings include a very nice car collection. Who lives here?

The bottom line is that Mississippi is nice and you'd be legendary for your spending on Bourbon Street, but come on. My real question is whether anything can compete with this California entry.

[Rain Man]

And out of curiosity, what am I looking at in Pictures 27 and 36 in Mississippi?

[DJ's left nut]

That Mississippi place is my 2nd favorite thus far.

Sadly for it, California is my favorite. Wow.

[jd1020]

If any one votes for the Mississippi property for reasons other than wanting more than 10 rounds in your cc pistol then....

This is like voting for Louisiana or Maine again but Louisiana has a nicer property but Maine doesnt have winter any more.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

And out of curiosity, what am I looking at in Pictures 27 and 36 in Mississippi?

Deer feeder in 27 and 36 looks like a clay bird shooting range.

[Rain Man]

But wait - California has no pool? Seriously? How is there no pool? It still wins, but there is a way that it could be beaten because of this.

[DJ's left nut]

Don't forget that on the California property you also get a spectacular classic car collection.

I'm unclear on the couple million dollars worth of farm implements, however...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

But wait - California has no pool? Seriously? How is there no pool? It still wins, but there is a way that it could be beaten because of this.

It has a small pool/jacuzzi in photo 18. And from the satellite view I believe it has what is effectively a moat around the property, which in desert california essentially qualifies as a pool.

N/M --- high res satellite shows that's just grass.

[KCUnited]

What an odd choice or oversight for leadoff photo on the CA property.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Don't forget that on the California property you also get a spectacular classic car collection.

I'm unclear on the couple million dollars worth of farm implements, however...

I was pondering that. I bet I could lease the farm operations to some lucky farmer and make up a little bit of the stipend that I'm leaving behind in Mississippi. I wonder how much income that would generate.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

What an odd choice or oversight for leadoff photo on the CA property.

Yeah, I almost didn't look at the listing for that reason. A lot of times the high-dollar places are just large tracts of land.

[DJ's left nut]

Also probably worth noting that as LA continues to expand, it will eventually work its way in that direction and you may be in a situation where that's like a billion dollar property in 20 years.

Can you imagine what 3,600 acres would subdivide and sell for if/when that becomes a legit LA suburb?

[PunkinDrublic]

The Cali one easy. I’m not living in Mississippi. I’ve drivin through the northern part of the state as well as the south through Gulfport.

[Lzen]

As much as I always say I would never live in a communist country.......errrrr...state like Kalifornia, this would be too good to pass up. The Miss is nice. I like fishing and swimming and lots of land. Not really into hunting, though. And the Cal one is more land and near a beach. And the climate is probably better year round. And the garage, OMG!!! I would have to go with Cali.